Micryletta subaraji Sankar, I.T. Law, I.S. Law, Shivaram, Abraham & Chan, 2022

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 50

Micryletta subaraji Sankar, I.T. Law, I.S. Law, Shivaram, Abraham & Chan, 2022 — Native; Endemic.

Microhyla subaraji Sankar, I.T. Law, I.S. Law, Shivaram, Abraham & Chan, 2022: 461 . Holotype: ZRC1.13370 , by original designation. Type locality: “ Kranji Marshes , Singapore (1°25.1150’N, 103°43.2641’E, 8 m a.s.l)”.

Subaraj’s Paddy Frog

( Figure 6E )

Singapore records.

Micryletta inornata — I.S. Law, Thomas & I.T. Law, 2019: 5 (Old Upper Thomson Road ) .

Micryletta — Suwannapoom et al., 2020: 587.

Micryletta cf. inornata —Sankar et al., 2022: 457–462 (Kranji Marshes).

Micryletta subaraji Sankar, I.T. Law, I.S. Law, Shivaram, Abraham & Chan 2022: 461–462 , 464–466 (Kranji Marshes).

Remarks. Micryletta subaraji represents Singapore’s latest herpetofauna addition and only endemic herpetofauna. This newly-described species was described from nine specimens collected at Kranji Marshes in 2021 (Sankar et al. 2022). Micryletta subaraji was first discovered in Singapore on 22 September 2018 when a single individual was found in leaf litter in a roadside drain along OUTR ( Law et al. 2019). This individual was identified as M. inornata , a species that formerly occupied a very wide distribution from India east to southern China and south to Sumatra (Poyarkov et al. 2018; Alhadi et al. 2019), but has since then been shown to be a species complex that is being split into several new species ( Miller et al. 2021) with M. inornata sensu stricto being restricted to Sumatra ( Alhadi et al. 2019). Subsequently, a population was found at Kranji Marshes and specimens were collected to verify the species identification, which is now this new species. Kranji Marshes is characterised as a highly disturbed marshy, scrubland that has undergone extensive reclamation works, whereas adjacent to where the first specimen was recorded on OUTR is mature secondary forest. Given this difference in habitat, and that the OUTR specimen appears morphologically different from M. subaraji, Sankar et al. (2022) suppose it may represent a different species.

Occurrence. Only known from a few individuals from OUTR and Kranji Marshes. Rare.

Singapore conservation status. Critically Endangered.

Conservation priority. Highest.

IUCN conservation status. Not Evaluated.

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Kranji Marshes: ZRC1.13370 (08-Jan-2021) [holotype] , ZRC 1.13323 (19-Sep-2020) , ZRC 1.13369 (08-Jan-2021) , ZRC 1.13389 (08-Jan-2021) , ZRC 1.13466 (20- Oct-2021) , ZRC 1.13467 (20-Oct-2021) , ZRC 1.13468 (20-Oct-2021) , ZRC 1.13469 (20-Oct-2021) , ZRC 1.13470 (20-Oct-2021) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Singapore localities. Kranji Marshes—Old Upper Thomson Road.

Family Ranidae Batsch, 1796 (5 species)

Ranina Batsch, 1796: 179 (type genus Rana Linnaeus, 1758 ).

Genus Chalcorana Dubois, 1992 (1 species)

Rana (Chalcorana) Dubois, 1992: 326 , 328 (type species: Hyla chalconota Schlegel, 1837 , by original designation; gender feminine).

Figures

FIGURE 6. A) Microhyla cf. butleri, B) Microhyla cf. heymonsi, C) Microhyla mantheyi, D) Microhyla cf. mukhlesuri, E) Micryletta subaraji, F) Chalcorana labialis, G) Hylarana erythraea, and H) Pulchrana baramica. Photographs by: Kelvin K.P. Lim [A–B, G], Alex Figueroa [C–D, F], and Law Ing Thong [E, H].